Mobile adverts improve reach

ADVERTISING on mobile platforms saw strong growth across Southeast Asia in 2017, while on-target mobile ad performance improved throughout the year, according to a report.

The Nielsen Digital Ad Ratings Benchmarks report, which has assessed more than 3,000 digital campaigns since its launch in Southeast Asia in 2015, found that in the first half of 2017 some 93 per cent of digital ad campaigns leveraged mobile platforms (smartphones and tablets). These campaigns achieved on-target reach equal to or higher than digital or desktop benchmarks for all but two reported age benchmarks.

Across Southeast Asian markets (Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand) digital ads targeting those in the 18 to 49 age bracket reached their intended audience 85 per cent of the time for all digital campaigns. This compares to 2016 benchmarks, where just 70 per cent of ads delivered via desktop and 66 per cent delivered via mobile reached their intended audience.

For Thailand digital ads targeting 18 to 49 year-olds, digital campaigns did a better job reaching men - with 71 per cent accuracy versus 68 per cent accuracy for females. Accuracy can also be influenced by device type where mobile on-target performance for the 18-49, female-only demographic was 16 percentage points higher than desktop performance (mobile at 71 per cent versus desktop at 55 per cent).

“The mobile-first habits of consumers in Thailand are one of the main factors that drive the rapid growth of mobile advertising,” says Sinthu Peatrarut, managing director, media client leadership, Nielsen Thailand. “The success of mobile ads to reach a specific audience reinforces that mobile is a highly personalised platform where almost all (92 per cent) campaigns measured in Thailand had a mobile component.

Looking across categories, advertisers in the Shopping/Retail and Financial sectors had the easiest time reaching their desired audience, achieving an on-target success of 72 per cent and 68 per cent respectively, compared to 59 per cent and 57 per cent respectively for advertisers in the automotive and consumer package good sectors.

“In an increasingly fragmented media landscape, marketers must consider every opportunity on the screen. When they try to reach their audiences, benchmarks or norms can serve as guidance to measure individual campaign’s effectiveness against marketplace average which would help media buyers and sellers better evaluate their online reach and campaign success. We are delighted that we are able to meet the industry’s demand as an independence measurement company,” said Sinthu.